Ragnar Kjartansson
Performers from Ragnar Kjartansson’s Romantic Songs of the Patriarchy (2018), Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum, New York, July 2–5, 2021. From left to right: Anna J Witiuk, Alex Koi, Rose Stoller, Felice Rosser, Miriam Elhajli, and Katie Martucci. Photo: David Heald. © Ragnar Kjartansson; Courtesy the artist, Luhring Augustine, New York, and i8 Gallery, Reykjavík.
For four days only (July 2–5), the Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum will present Romantic Songs of the Patriarchy, a work by Ragnar Kjartansson that will have women and non-binary singer-guitarists stationed throughout the rotunda playing popular songs of love and romance by some of the world’s greatest songwriters.
At once a live mash-up celebrating pop music and a charged environment of critique, Romantic Songs of the Patriarchy creates a space where contradictions—between individual and group, oppression and liberation, rhythm and chaos—exist together within a community of collaboration and mutual support.
Ragnar Kjartansson: Romantic Songs of the Patriarchy is organized by Nat Trotman, Curator, Performance and Media, with Terra Warren, Curatorial Assistant. Originally commissioned by C Project and curated by Tom Eccles, the piece premiered at the Women’s Building, San Francisco, in 2018.
All visitors will need to reserve a timed ticket online, capacity is reduced, and masking is mandatory. Book your tickets here.